Please mind the
ability gap
Glass half empty?
Many potential Risus
players seem to be put off by the death spiral mechanics that form the basis of
its conflict resolution system. These are usually blamed for making combat
one-sided, with most fights decided in the first round or even before a fight
begins. In point of fact the real
culprit is the large ability gap between player characters with different
numbers of cliché dice. If you switch to an alternative dice mechanic that
softens the ability gap, fights are not quite so one-sided.
The ability gap is so big
that even a 1-die difference between opponents pretty much decides a fight, with the weaker characters chance of winning
reduced to a reasonably improbable fluke. Unless opponents are evenly
matched, the number of dice they have has more impact on the outcome than rolling them. Even if opponents are evenly matched, one of them
will have less dice next round and the fight will be largely decided.
While the level of determinism caused by the ability gap sounds like a flaw it has some rather powerful benefits that make it a feature. The ability gap influences every form of action resolution in Risus so these benefits apply across the entire system.
Glass half full!
While dice deliver the
occasional fluke win, their principle function in Risus is to resolve ties. If
your character is outmatched winning often boils down to resource management involving
lucky shots, pumping, cliché switching, teaming up and so on. Very few roleplaying
games exhibit this level of determinism or rely quite so heavily on resource
management. Those that do are mostly diceless roleplaying games. Despite the
buckets of dice that get rolled, Risus has many of the strengths of diceless
games and none of the weaknesses: it doesn’t pointlessly get rid of the dice.
The determinism of Risus influences
the way players think about getting into fights, or indeed any form of conflict
- from a game of Tiddly Winks with the Grim Reaper to a pitched battle with
Windows (7). When a fight is looming in Risus players can usually guess what
the outcome is going to be before getting really stuck in. This encourages
players to use clever tactics, prudent resource management, artful weaseling or
actual roleplaying (heaven forefend) to level the playing field.
Similarly if your character
ends up in a fight and loses the first round, you know they are screwed before they are dead. This means you can
actually do something about it. In fact you have to, because the ability gap
means that hoping for some good rolls is simply not a solution. Running away
screaming like a little girl works far better – unless your character is a
little girl.
The ability gap makes
chance something of a choice in Risus. While there’s always the possibility of
a fluke, if you have the resources you can choose even odds over a probable failure
or probable success over even odds. Diceless games don’t offer that and neither
do most dicealicious games.
S. John Ross has
indicated that the 20th anniversary edition of Risus will use a
highest die mechanic instead of the current dice pool mechanic. This will
soften the ability gap considerably and address the incessant griping - but
possibly at a price.
Risus Tosser
You can explore the
impact of determinism and resource management on all forms of action resolution
in Risus by running a session using the Risus Tosser system outlined below:
- The
character with the highest number of cliché dice always wins a single action
conflict or combat round.
- Ties
are resolved with a single coin toss by the player: heads you win, tails you lose.
- Target numbers are replaced with static clichés like Dodgy Curry (4), Sturdy Lock (3) or Craggy Cliff (2) and dealt with like single action conflicts.
- Allies
contribute a third of their dice rounded normally to the team leaders total.